Monday, April 22, 2013

Vegan Chicken Pesto Pizza Madness!

You know what? I completely forgot to announce the winner of the Happy Herbivore Abroad giveaway in last night's post. So congrats, Adriana, who according to her comment is a lover of the delicious tofu banh mi sandwich. Me too, Adriana, me too. Anyway, congrats!

Also, the lovely and awesome River of Wing It Vegan wrote the nicest, most food porn heavy, most comprehensive review of Cookin' Crunk to date. River and I are long-time blog buds, and she even tested for Cookin' Crunk several years ago. Check it out.

Now onto tonight's dinner. But let's back up a bit. You see, tonight's dinner started with a trip to the Memphis Farmers Market on opening day three Saturdays ago. I was meandering around the market space and trying to dodge bodies (our market was so crowded on opening day!) all while looking for something to catch my eye, when lo and behold, I spotted this:

A nice lady and man were selling all sorts of jarred goodies. They had regular dairy-based pesto and vegan pesto! Apparently, the lady's son was vegan for a time, and she learned to make a vegan version of everything! Well, I couldn't not buy this, right?

But what to do with a small jar of pesto? It was $8, so I wanted to save it for something special. And that's when it hit me. I've never had a chicken pesto pizza. But I see people eating them, and I get a little sad that I can't have any because it's not vegan. So I whipped up a pizza crust using my fave recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance, and I splurged on Morningstar Farms Chick'n Strips and Daiya Jalapeno-Garlic Havarti. And I made my own Vegan Chicken Pesto Pizza!

This was just glorious! Look how the chicken and vegan cheese got those little browned bits in the oven. Perfection. And the homemade, local pesto was the perfect complement to the chicken and super-melty Daiya havarti.

I mean, just look at that slice!

Here's the pseudo-recipe.Vegan Chicken Pesto Pizza1 whole wheat pizza crust (I used the recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance)6 Tbsp. vegan pesto12 strips of Morningstar Farms Chick'n Strips Meal Starters1/2 wedge of Daiya Jalapeno-Garlic Havarti, gratedPreheat the oven to 500 degrees. Stretch the dough onto a pizza pan. Assemble the pizza by spreading the pesto on first, leaving a little room at the edge for the crust. Top with chicken strips and cheese. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

Gah! Minus the "chicken" that looks so good! The one thing I really miss since going vegan is Amy's Pesto Pizza. I know it's easy to make myself--crust, pesto and Daiya mozzerella, but I haven't gotten around to it. You, my friend, might have just pushed me over the edge ;)

Vegan pesto is easy and keeps for weeks in the frig.In a blender, put a handful of fresh basil, a tablespoon or two of minced garlic (in the jar is fine), extra virgin olive oil (1/2 cup or so), a little salt and 1/2 cup walnuts. If your blender is powerful the walnuts grind easily, otherwise buy the ground up pieces in the bag. Taste, you may want a little more garlic. Serve over pasta, pizza, steamed vegetables. Enjoy!!